Dogs with bright blue fur photographed roaming the streets of Russia may be suffering from skin irritation and internal bleeding as a result of exposure to toxic or harmful chemicals, the world’s largest animal protection agency said. Newsweek.
Humane Society International, which has 12 million members worldwide, has asked authorities in Russian cities to implement sterilization and vaccination programs to protect the welfare of stray dogs like these.
Photos of the dogs taken near the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk, 370 kilometers east of Moscow, surfaced online earlier this month and have since gone viral. Dogs have an ethereal color of cobalt on their coats, which is believed to be the result of exposure to copper sulphate at a nearby abandoned chemical factory.
Blue dogs were spotted near an abandoned chemical factory in Dzerzhinsk, in the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod. A strange coloring can be caused by chemical residues, such as copper sulfate. Vibrant blue coats are not happy. can cause health problems for them#saveanimals pic.twitter.com/USBGSkKupB
– priya balu (@ priyabalu_2000) February 14, 2021
While the dogs’ unique coat color may be attractive, Kelly O’Meara, vice president of companion animals at the Humane Society International, cautioned that the unusual coloring may point to a “myriad of animal welfare concerns.”
“This situation with stray dogs living near an abandoned chemical factory in Dzerzhinsk, Russia, showed a very obvious welfare problem because of the discoloration of their skin,” she said.
“The ink on their skin indicates that they have had direct contact or even ingestion of potentially toxic or harmful substances. This can result in painful skin burning or itching or internal bleeding and illnesses that can lead to death without veterinary intervention.”
They found some striking blue dogs in Russia, in the city of Dzerzhinsk there was an event that intrigued more than one, they found a herd of dogs that aroused their astonishment, since they all had blue hair. pic.twitter.com/wu1GaAqUV9
– Moises Lopez (@chapoisat) February 16, 2021
Humane Society International is the international division of The Humane Society of the United States, with offices in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. However, says O’Meara, the involvement of Russian authorities, where HSI has no official presence, is low.
“So far, authorities in cities across Russia have not implemented effective and humane strategies to deal with their populations of stray dogs and can often resort to cruel and ineffective control methods,” he warned.
“We encourage them to adopt sterilization / vaccination programs to improve the well-being of these dogs and to avoid the accidental and intentional risks and cruelty they often experience.”
The incident in Dzerzhinsk is not the first time that animals of strange colors are seen in the city.
Andrey Mislivets, the bankruptcy manager at the chemical plant considered responsible for the spill that made the dogs turn blue, told the Russian state news agency Sputnik: “Several years ago, something similar happened when stray dogs were given unnatural ‘dyes’. “
He confirmed the suspicions that the dogs in this case had been exposed to industrial chemicals: “Possibly they found remnants of some old chemicals and rolled in them, and it was possibly copper sulfate,” he said, adding, “They must have found something. Nobody controls them. ‘”
A Russian government spokesman reportedly said: “Talks are being held with the heads of the company about the possibility of capturing the dogs. They must be checked, their health must be assessed and the reason for the hair dye must be found.”
O’Meara echoed the concern, saying, “We hope that in this case, the source of the problem will be identified and considered benign, and that the dogs’ well-being will not be compromised.”
The discoloration of the skin of Dzerzhinsk dogs is far from the first occurrence of animals with unusual hues. In 2017, photos circulated online of a pack of light blue stray dogs taken in Mumbai, India. An investigation revealed that the dogs were exposed to chloride illegally pumped from a local factory into a river where they swam; the factory was closed.
STR / AFP / Getty